Read All About the World’s Most Powerful Online Activist Organization, Avaaz

Want to know what the most powerful and largest online global activist network is, according to the leading newspaper The Guardian? It is called Avaaz, and it was started around a decade ago, in 2007. Avaaz is a Persian word that means song. It is related to the word voice in the English language, and many other languages have related words. It focuses on promoting issues such as animal rights, human rights, and climate change.

Avaaz is a joint venture by MoveOn.org and Res Publica. Service Employees Financial Union also played a role in supporting Avaaz. These are the organizations that helped found it. The individuals behind Avaaz are Tom Pravda, Ricken Patel, Eli Pariser, and many others. The last three, along with Ben Brandzel, serve on the board. Ricken Patel has a long history of activism, as he worked for organizations such as International Crisis Group. He also volunteered for MoveOn.org. Ricken said that Avaaz has no ideology per se. Instead, it just focuses on bringing people together and closing the gap between people all around the world. He says Avaaz aims at uniting idealists from around the world.

Avaaz has accomplished a lot since it was founded. For one, they helped get the no-fly zone established over Libya. They helped start the uprising in Syria against the dictator Assad. They helped activists in Iran set up internet proxies during the election there to circumvent government censorship. They trained activists all over the world, and they sent a million and a half dollars worth of internet equipment to activists in Syria. They helped evacuate a British reporter who was wounded. They developed a tool for the 2016 presidential election in the United States that helped people register online to vote. They help set up online petitions and email campaigns for various issues.